Panel makes case for new district

Creation of 63rd senate district would unite areas with similar interests, supporters say

Jimmy Vielkin, Times Union

By Jimmy Vielkind

Published 10:51 pm, Monday, January 30, 2012

Susan Lerner with Common Cause/NY addresses those gathered for a press conference in the LCA press room at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Common Cause held the press event to voice their concerns over redistricting in the state. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Susan Lerner with Common Cause/NY addresses those gathered for a...

Susan Lerner with Common Cause/NY addresses those gathered for a press conference in the LCA press room at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Common Cause held the press event to voice their concerns over redistricting in the state. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Susan Lerner with Common Cause/NY addresses those gathered for a...

Senator Michael Nozzolio talks to members of the media before the start of public hearing of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Senator Nozzolio is co-chair of the task force. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Senator Michael Nozzolio talks to members of the media before the...

Robert Bain from Guilderland addresses the members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment during a public hearing at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Senator Nozzolio is co-chair of the task force. Bain said that work in and out of government for over 30 years and he showed up as a citizen to testify because he likes the way the redistricting plan would affect Guilderland. Bain said that now he works as a consultant having started his own business, Bain Government Affairs. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Robert Bain from Guilderland addresses the members of the New York...

Senator Gustavo Rivera addresses the members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment during a public hearing at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Senator Gustavo Rivera addresses the members of the New York State...

Senator Michael Nozzolio, center, looks over maps in a book of the proposed legislative districts during a public hearing held by members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Senator Nozzolio is co-chair of the task force, along with Assemblyman Jack McEneny, left. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Senator Michael Nozzolio, center, looks over maps in a book of the...

Members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment hold a public hearing at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic...

Bill Mahoney, assistant to the legislative director for NYPIRG addresses members of the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment during a public hearing at the Legislative Office Building on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 in Albany, NY. Mahoney called on legislators on the task force to release all communications between parties involved in the redistricting so the public could gauge for themselves how fair and nonpartisan the process was. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

ALBANY — Does Albany have more in common with its sister city Troy, or rural Berne?

After weathering a storm of initial criticism last week when it unveiled draft maps for state Senate and Assembly lines, the state task force charged with the once-a-decade process of legislative redistricting began a series of hearings Monday to debate the merits of its plan.

Several speakers at the Albany hearing addressed the proposal, authored by Senate Republicans, to create a 63rd Senate district stretching from Montgomery to Ulster counties.

For the first time in history, it bisects Albany County, now represented in the Senate by Neil Breslin, a Democrat from Bethlehem. He would be eligible to run for a seat that includes that town as well as Colonie, Menands and Green Island and the cities of Albany, Rensselaer, Cohoes, Watervliet and parts of Troy.

"The cities of Rensselaer, Troy and Albany have similar interests and similar constituencies," said Rensselaer Mayor Dan Dwyer, a Democrat who was supportive of the plan.

Uniting urban communities along the Hudson River, along with more suburban Colonie and Bethlehem, makes more sense "than having one foot in the city part of this state Senate district and one in the rural," said Dwyer.

The problem, as pointed out by good-government groups, is that provisions in the New York State Constitution dating back to 1894 demand districts keep counties whole wherever possible. If you accept the Republican argument that there should be 63 senators, then the ideal district size is 307,356 people — just 1 percent off of Albany County's estimated 304,204-person population.

LATFOR is jointly controlled by Democrats who dominate the Assembly and Republicans who hold a single-seat majority in the Senate. Each conference draws lines for its colleagues, and two people familiar with LATFOR's plans told the Times Union that Republicans designed the district to facilitate a Senate run by Assemblyman George Amedore, R-Rotterdam.

Breslin has argued for keeping the county whole, and in an op-ed submission Sunday wrote "Albany County as we know it would be drastically distorted, separating communities and disenfranchising voters."

Sen. Mike Nozzolio, LATFOR's Republican co-chair, said the new district was necessitated by population growth. "The plan put forward is legal, appropriate, and complies with the United States and New York state constitutions," he said.

Bob Bain, a 36-year Guilderland resident and former appointee of Gov. George Pataki, said many people in his town have much in common with neighboring Rotterdam, and that the two were logically and correctly combined in one Senate district as a "community of interest" because they have "similar neighborhoods, similar types of housing."

"Our sporting teams in the two towns and the towns around, we play each other in the same division," he said. "Our sporting teams' banquets from Guilderland are often held at Mallozzi's banquet house in Rotterdam."

Representatives of good-government groups also weighed in on the issue. Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Research Group wondered why a $3 million legal retainer was needed to obtain a constitutional analysis supporting the need for a 63rd district if, as Nozzolio has earlier claimed, it flows so clearly from the state Constitution. Mahoney pressed him to release all correspondence with the outside attorney, Michael Carvin, to prove his skepticism misplaced.